Savory Butternut Squash Soup

There has been 3/4 of a butternut squash sitting around since the dinner party I went to last Monday night. I have been dying to make a squash soup since they are one of my favorites!

I have seen a lot of sweeter squash soups recently, but I knew I wanted something spicy with lots of different flavors. It turned out just how I wanted it! My recipe is a relatively close adaption to this one here.

Savory Butternut Squash Soup (makes 6 servings)

1 large butternut squash

2 small red potatoes

1 Tablesppon olive oil

1/2 medium yellow onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 small red pepper

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1.5 cups vegetable stock

2.5 cups water

salt to taste

First off, can you pick out the butternut squash from here? Evan and I go to the farmer’s market every week to get a supply of tasty foods. This is our haul from last week.

And here you have it– a pretty big butternut squash! Keep in might I had cut about half the of the stalk off to use in another recipe, so if you find a smaller one, it will still work with this recipe. This was the last butternut squash the vendors had! I don’t know if they go out of season earlier or if they’re in high demand, but it felt like fate to get the last one! Just don’t mind the shape or what it might look like…… ANYWAYS. Back to the recipe.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Turns out squash seeds are just as edible as pumpkin seeds! I recommend saving the seeds and roasting them later for a tasty snack. I attempted such a thing, but the recipe I found called for the oven to be way too hot for the little guys and I burnt them really bad… but have no fear, I have faith that you will do a better job than me!

2. Then cut the squash into quarters. Cut the potatoes into halves. Drizzle the olive oil over both. Roasting the squash and potato gives the soup another layer of flavor that goes well with pepper and cumin. Place these in the oven for 30 minutes or until you can easily poke the squash with a fork.

3. While the potatoes and squash are cooking away, chop the 1/2 onion and 2 cloves garlic. The cut the small red pepper in half and take out most of the seeds. The pepper alone with leave a nice spicy note– I personally cannot handle the seeds.

Here is the small red peppers Evan gets from the farmer’s market. I don’t know if they have a particular name.

Also, I forgot to mention that I highly recommend drinking hot cocoa and listening to Florenice + The Machine station on Pandora. I think that both of these things might make cooking just a little more fun.

4. Place the onion, garlic and pepper in a big pot with 1 tablespoon of canola oil. With medium heat, cook until onions become translucent, about 10 minutes. Place aside and wait for the squash and potatoes.

5. Once the squash and potatoes are done cooking, allow them to cool until you can touch them comfortably. Peel the flesh away from the skin and place all the flesh in the pot. Discard the skins.

6. Next place the cumin, oregano, cayenne, salt, vegetable broth and water into the pot as well. Turn the burner onto a medium/high heat until a light boil and then cover and simmer.

I let the soup simmer for about 5-10 minutes, to get it all nice and warm and to let the flavors mix a bit.

I love how the red pepper and to oregano add a little bit of color to this soup.

7. Take a ladel and place soup in magic bullet container to blend. (If you have a food processor or blender, those will also work).

8. Once blended place directly in a bowl for serving.

My pictures of this didn’t turn out as well as I wanted. Something about this whole early sunset thing is throwing off my ability to take good photos. Someday I’ll be more professional and have fancy lights and elaborate photo shoots… for now, I’ll stick with crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

Best served with a side of toasted rosemary bread with a little bit of butter. Also maybe a glass of milk (if you’re into that sort of thing) because this soup is SPICY! But in an awesome– it’s really cold outside and I want to stay warm– kind of way. This soup is vegan and gluten free! It is also super thick because the butternut squash and the potato both really thicken up the liquid. If you like things a little bit more soupy, I recommend adding 1 additional cup of either vegetable broth or water.

This week at the farmer’s market I decided to pick up a few things I have never cooked with. I bought a kohlrabi and Chinese mustard greens. Hopefully they will both equal out to deliciousness– and if so, I’ll post about it 😉

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